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Life-saving equipment is being installed on all Edinburgh trams. 

Earlier today, Donald Wilson, the Lord Provost,  joined representatives of local business donors to mark the latest stage of St John Scotland’s (SJS) project to place defibrillators in a variety of strategic locations across the city. 

Defibrillators can be crucial in restoring a normal heartbeat after someone has suffered a cardiac arrest. Speedy application can boost survival rates by as much as 75 per cent.

Each device and protective box costs around £1,500, and the ones on the trams have been acquired thanks to the fund-raising efforts of SJS and firms such as Charlie Miller, Montagu Evans, Newtyne Consultancy & Training, Phillips & Laerdal, Royal Bank of Scotland, and Virgin Money.

‘Nobody in Edinburgh should need to think twice before using a defibrillator in an emergency,’ said Wilson. ‘That’s why I am delighted St John and the City will be offering advice and training to tram staff. Not only can the machines help passengers in need, they can be taken off the carriage and used at tram stops.’

SJS has already partnered Network Rail to provide four defibrillators in Waverley Station. In their first year of operation, they have been deployed four times.

St John Scotland is a charity focusing on medical and rescue activites, and supports a range of life-saving and medical support such as patient transport and first-responder services.